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Ska punk luminaries Less Than Jake will be launching their third creative installment ofLost At Home Sessions. Volume Three“The Sit Around” goes on sale today at 12pm EST over at Bandcamp.
“The Sit Around” Cover Art
“I was ‘sitting around’ watching the news one day,” describes saxophonist and vocalist JR Wasilewski. “I thought about how me and my group of friends used to joke when we were kids working summer jobs, how awesome it would be to just be able to sit around all day and do nothing besides play video games and go to the beach without a care in the world. But when presented with that situation, everybody quickly realized how incredibly impossible it seemed to actually just sit around.”
The lyrics for “The Sit Around” were written by Wasilewski and it’s also the very first song that he sings the lead. “We’d been punting around the idea of me singing leads on a song for years,” Wasilewski explains. “To be frank, I always said no thanks. I felt (and still feel) Less Than Jake is most identifiable by those two voices (Chris and Roger). Adding a third voice beyond just a background vocal, to me, seems to mud up the waters. I like to sing, I just never saw myself as a lead vocalist.
“We talked about it for this song and I said I’d entertain the idea of a lead vocal, mostly because this Lost At Home project is allowing us to test the waters creatively. It’s not a proper album, just songs composed during a strange time in history. I figured if there was ever a time for me to sing, why not now?”
Those who purchase the song at the current price will automatically be entered to win a prize pack (pictured above) that includes an old and rare glow-in-the-dark bobblehead and some out of print vinyl. Contest entries close on July 24th.
Proceeds Benefit Bread of the Mighty
A portion of the proceeds will benefit Bread of the Mighty Food Bank, a North Florida-based food bank that has been serving the community for over 32 years. They collect, sort, store and distribute donated food and basic essentials to over 190 non-profit agency partners such as food pantries, churches, homeless shelters and other organizations who then distribute food in their communities to directly feed the hungry. For every dollar donated, they can provide up to ten meals.
Continuing to play over 150 dates a year while also writing and recording new material has kept the band fresh in a time when “ska” has become something of a four letter word. The list of acts they have supported is staggering (Bon Jovi, Linkin Park, Snoop Dogg), while the list of bands that have supported them makes even the most hardened music industry veteran do a double take (Fall Out Boy, Paramore, Yellowcard). All the while the band has held firm to its punk rock roots and have managed to live through many musical trends simply by just being Less Than Jake.
With well over 300 releases on various labels under their belt, most would think their legacy is already in tact, but the status quo has never interested Less Than Jake. They continue to write and perform new material and have no thoughts of letting up. With the energy and exuberance of a band half its age and the determination of savvy veterans, there is seemingly no end point to this enduring and entertaining band.
LOS ANGELES – Failure have released a newly recorded cover of the Depeche Mode classic, “Enjoy The Silence”. Listen here:
“We originally recorded a cover of ‘Enjoy The Silence’ for the 1998 Depeche Mode tribute, For The Masses,” says Ken Andrews. “That album has all but disappeared, no longer in print and not available via streaming platforms but we as a band are proud of our take on that song and had wanted to re-record it for some time. With the blessing of both Martin Gore and Depeche Mode, we re-addressed our version and came up with this new version for 2020.”
The digital single arrives at a time when Failure had been slated to perform a series of live residencies in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City. Those dates have since been cancelled due to COVID-19.
FAILURE 1992-1996 Preorder Available
FAILURE 1992–1996 Cover Art
The band is taking pre-orders here for FAILURE 1992-1996, a four-piece vinyl box set featuring the three ‘90s-era albums. With the original masters finally being unearthed, Comfort, Magnified, and Fantastic Planet have been meticulously restored, remixed, and remastered by Ken Andrews to a new level of sonic fidelity that eclipses all previous iterations of the band’s early work.
“Almost everything people have heard from these albums has been sourced from 16bit digital files made in the ‘90s, which was state of the art at the time,” explains Andrews. “But when we found out we were getting our hands on the original analog master tapes, and with all the confusion and lack of quality control on several of the previous iterations, we set out to create the definitive versions of Comfort, Magnified and Fantastic Planet. Everything has been sourced directly from first generation multitrack and stereo master tapes. This is us finally getting to present our early work the way we’ve always wanted to.”
In addition to all the originally released songs from the three albums, the band has discovered several unreleased songs which have also been restored and will be included in the box set.
“These new versions have all the magic from the originals, but now, instead of looking through a hazy pane of glass, the window has been completely opened and you can hear all the elements in their full glory,” explains drummer Kellii Scott.
“Listening to the b-sides and outtakes from that first year of being a band takes me right back to playing the tiny stage at Jabberjaw in Los Angeles,” adds bassist/guitarist Greg Edwards. “It’s always surprising to me how much of the expansiveness and atmosphere of the later records exist in embryonic form on those earliest stripped-down recordings.”
“Stuck On You” was recently remastered both visually and sonically, and can be viewed here:
VELVET is the fourth studio album by singer Adam Lambert. He had intended to promote the September 2019 release in 2020, starting with a five date residency in Las Vegas, followed by a European tour. The postponement of these performances resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Praising Lambert’s work on VELVET, Variety’s A.D. Amorosi wrote, “Perhaps tired of being Queen’s plus one, or smoothing over his rougher vocal edges, the 38-year-old out singer goes for something less glamorously amorously entertaining and more grimily soulful and sleekly funky than we’re used to hearing from him…” “…Adam Lambert has made “Velvet” a testament to finding his way, personally and professionally, in what is his most accomplished solo work to date.“
KID DAD’s new track “Limbo” is a song that deals with feeling unsafe, hassled, or even abused. As vocalist and guitarist Marius Vieth says, it’s about being “caught between uncertainty and fear, searching for something real to hold on to, in search of hope.”
The band has chosen to convey this in a music video that tells the story of a child trying to escape domestic violence. Part of what initiated this concept was the fact that, due to Covid-19 and the regulations put in place to battle the pandemic, there has been a surge in cases of domestic violence worldwide. Being trapped at home, a place that should be a haven of safety, can turn into a living hell for far too many people with the detection rate for young victims being shockingly low.
Band Announces ‘SAFE In A Box’ Campaign to Raise Awareness Around Child Abuse / Domestic Violence
Says the band: “We address feelings of isolation and entrapment on our debut album ‘In A Box’ and feel obliged to call attention to this situation. We want to raise awareness of the prevalence of domestic violence cases worldwide and encourage people to donate to SOS-Kinderdorf & NSPCC in order to support the work they are doing in preventing such violence and supporting victims.”
Kid Dad has set up a website with information, donation links and merch items with 100% of the proceeds to be donated, here: www.kid-dad.com/safeinabox.
"After a lot of research and brainstorming on how we can actually help, we decided to produce some small merch articles of which 100% of the proceeds will be donated to SOS Kinderdörfer and NSPCC. In addition to this we will pay 100% of the producing and shipping costs so every single cent you pay will find its way to the organizations.We know we can’t change the world with this, but even if a single child will be helped, then this whole campaign will be worth it!If you have the means we deeply encourage you to make a donation directly to the organizations:
Help us to make a change here: www.kid-dad.com/shop. Please notice that all the donation items are marked with a little house!Thank you so much,Marius, Max, Michael & Joshua
Debut Full-Length In A Box To Be Released August 21
In A Box Cover Art
“Limbo” was written on a trip Marius took to London in collaboration with Welsh singer-songwriter Sarah Howells (Bryde). In A Box was fueled by these songwriting trips to England, as well as to China and Switzerland, and much time spent in Berlin. Regarding the experience of recording the album over a prolonged period of time, Marius says “I really enjoyed working with so many different setups. You absorb everything when you’re young – I want to take advantage of that.“
In A Box will be released 21 August via Long Branch Records. KID DAD hail from Paderborn in Germany and have played shows across the continent with the likes of Taking Back Sunday, Marmozets and Fatherson.
Award-winning Italian vocalist / multi-instrumentalist NeroArgento is sharing with fans the new music video for the full length’s second single “Shed My Skin”, featuring singer/musician Brandon Ashley from The Dark and Caitlin Stokes from Corlyx.
‘Shed My Skin‘ is a more industrial-oriented song, based on heavy and low-tuned guitar riffs, plus huge and catchy layered vocals that give the song a killer radio attitude.
Watch the “Shed My Skin” Music Video
The music video was directed once more by Fabio Brunello (Director, CGI, FX, and editing).
Circles is NeroArgento‘s fifth studio album and it takes a step back to the original “industrial” roots as well as a step forward into a more mature and experimental sound. Known in the crossover scene as a solo artist, and founding member of the industrial metal act The Silverblack, NeroArgento has been involved in over 40 records to date including the Princess Ghibli compilation, a very well known collection in Japan that has sold several thousand copies along with performing multiple times at the New Years World Rock Festival, an event by Yuya Uchida.
NeroArgento’s tracks have also been featured in several official gameplay trailers, displayed on renowned websites as Warcraftmovies and Machinima plus his solo albums were released as special editions in Japan.
Among many collaborations as a producer, musician, and remixer, NeroArgento has worked with artists such as Dead By Sunrise, Vamps, Disarmonia Mundi, Rise To Fall, The Stranded, Massive Ego, Lady Faith alongside remixed songs for fan clubs of KORN, The Prodigy, Gorillaz.
Circles is set to be released via Rockshots Records on September 18th, 2020.
It’s been 45 years since the golden voice of a “kid from Chicago” hit the Top 10 with the song “Lady” and propelled the band Styx into the worldwide spotlight. Now, at age 73, crooner Dennis DeYoung shows no signs of slowing down with the release of his new solo CD entitled 26 East: Volume 1. The songs are refreshingly original and yet instantly familiar while the lyrics are peppered with some very poignant statements about the world today and the roles we each play.
There is some expectation for great songwriting from the man who penned such top 10 hits as “Mr. Roboto”, “Show Me The Way”, “Come Sail Away”, and reached Number 1 with the definitive rock ballad “Babe.” The odds doubled when DeYoung decided to collaborate with another Number 1 songwriter: Jim Peterik, who’s known for chart-topping successes from “Vehicle” (#2 for Ides of March), “Caught Up In You” (#10 for 38 Special), and the rock anthem “Eye of the Tiger,” a number 1 hit for his former band Survivor. Although past success is no guarantee of future results, the DeYoung/Peterik team delivered five solid tracks that are textbook for well crafted songs. “We collaborated from the get go,” said DeYoung, “happily and seamlessly and at this time we have written nine songs together of which five will be on Volume 1. Just two Chicago guys doing what they do best, making music and having a laugh.”
Out of the gate, 26 East begins with “East of Midnight,” a big production of melodic rock with the signature stacked harmonies, soaring synthesizers balanced with crunchy guitars, and that strong voice that keeps classic rock radio stations in business. There’s a hint of “Grand Illusion” here and a nod to “I’m OK”, but it’s definitely not a regurgitation of the past. The song is a reminiscent journey back in time to the humble beginnings of DeYoung’s music career when the nucleus of Styx began with him and the Panozzo twins, Chuck and John. The album’s title “26 East” was the address where DeYoung grew up in Roseland on the far south side of Chicago, and the cover artwork features three locomotives traveling through space, representing the original members leaving Chicago on their journey to the stars.
There are two other guests on this album that add to allure. First is Julian Lennon, whose harmonies seamlessly blend with DeYoung’s on their collaboration “To The Good Old Days.” DeYoung indicated that he hadn’t met Julian before recording this song, but their words seem so sincere as they sing about raising a glass to toast all of the memories of their past together and all the good and bad times that they’ve survived.
The second guest is guitarist/vocalist August Zadra, who may only be mentioned briefly in the liner notes, but presumably contributed significantly to the “band” sound of the record. Zadra is a dynamic force in the Dennis DeYoung live show where he takes on the lead and harmony vocals originally voiced by Tommy Shaw. His work shines on the rocker “Damn That Dream” that talks about the reality of a dream-come-true turning into a charade that leaves you “lost and torn apart.”
DeYoung’s music is diverse and culled from the “boom child” musical inspirations from his youth through to the songs of his modern contemporaries. The track “You My Love” feels like an homage to the love ballads of the 1950’s — so much so that you might believe that it is a cover of a song that might have been earmarked for the Grease soundtrack. Even the vocal styling is on point for this period of music.
From the Styx classic “Suite Madame Blue” to “Turn Off The CNN” from his last solo record, One Hundred Years From Now, DeYoung has never shied from making political points with his lyrics. 26 East boasts a trilogy of politically themed songs that starts with the campy “With All Due Respect.” It’s definitely a fun song about the incompetence of our bi-partisan government, but the chorus sports the childish jabs, “With all due respect, you are an asshole” and “With all due respect, plug up your pie holes” that are hard to take seriously. The following song, “A Kingdom Ablaze,” is a haunting melody with lyrics that foretell an end to our nation if we don’t correct our ways. The music is reminiscent of “Castle Walls” from the Grand Illusion album laced with a subtle shuffle, ominous Gregorian chants, and the foreboding message, “When our greed becomes our need, all will bleed.” “The Promise of This Land” is the third song in the trilogy that comes later in the track list. It is a song of hope, and DeYoung’s theatrical spirit shines as brightly on this song as it did on the wonderful collection of show tunes from his 1994 release, 10 On Broadway. This song is full of references to our founding fathers and the dreams they had for this newly launched nation.
There are certain formulas for writing timeless “hit” songs and DeYoung and Peterik have their own recipes. The standout songs that have potential for chart topping success are “Run For The Roses” and “Unbroken.” Both start softly with the mood of a minor key and then soar to dramatic heights in major keys and layered harmonies spreading a positive message. Each song would be comfortable in any of the past five decades. Though the odds are stacked against DeYoung for chart success in the current climate of much younger artists, you never know when he might catch lightning in the bottle again (like the time “Show Me The Way” was spurred on as an anthem during Desert Storm). Who would have expected his recent rendition of “The Best of Times,” sung at his home during the COVID-19 pandemic, would go viral (no pun intended) and reach over a million views.
Speaking of “The Best of Times,” 26 East wraps up with yet another reprise of the “A.D. 1928”/”A.D. 1958” from the end of the Paradise Theater album. This time it is called “A.D. 2020” and features DeYoung playing an accordion, the instrument that got it all started for him. If you have been a fan of the music of Dennis DeYoung throughout the years, this short bookend to the album will tug at the heart strings as he seems to accept the notion that his music will last long beyond his years. He has shared his soul here in sonic form for you to listen to, relate to, and most importantly, to let it move you.
“Lucky Cat” is the first single from DRMAGDN Cyborg Drummer/DJ’s upcoming debut album, aptly titled Escape From NYC. The song literally came to him complete in a dream three years ago. In the dream, it went massively viral, had its own dance, and came at a time of real human need – which is right now.
DRMAGDN says, “The whole process was surreal. I have never been given an entire song complete in a dream with melody, lyrics and even a dance that went viral around the world before. I met K-pop singer Josephine Cho at another session I was producing. When she started singing, I was shocked cause it was literally the voice from my dream. I had another deja vu flashback to the second half of my dream when the worldwide shutdown happened because the song came at a time of massive human need. So, I bumped my song ‘RIOT!’ to be released on June 5 and fast tracked ‘Lucky Cat’ for a May release. The song is currently almost to the one million total view/play mark across all socials and streaming services since being released a month ago. I am excited to finally drop the fun viral music video.”
Josephine Cho & Charlie Zeleny, DRMAGDN Click to Enlarge
The song is a catchy female K-Pop EDM hit available in five Asian languages and English. It features Korean pop singer Josephine Cho and was mastered by Huntley Miller (Grammy for Zedd’s “Clarity” Record and Lizzo) with mix consulting by Johnny Nice (Rihanna’s “Umbrella” and Evanescence). Additional keyboards by Plastic Cannon/Alan Markley (Maggie Rogers and Ramin Karmiloo) and lead “meow” vocals by Sophia Angelica (singer/songwriter/activist). All other production, songwriting, keys, programming, drums and mixing by DRMAGDN Cyborg Drummer/DJ aka Charlie Zeleny.
“Lucky Cat” has total combined views/plays of 835,000+ in just a month since the release. It is considered a Big Trend on TikTok with 635,000+ views, plus has garnered 55,000+ views on YouTube, 21,000+ Spotify plays, 12,500+ Spotify monthly listeners, 121,000+ SoundCloud plays and 5,000+ “Likes”/shares across Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. The song has been placed on 30+ Spotify playlists and is now on major label Sony Music’s FILTR Emerging Electronic playlist.
DRMAGDN gave $100 to charity on the day of the release to start things off ($50 to Mount Sinai’s Coronavirus Fund and $50 to friend Chris Rybin’s Kidney Transplant Fund). He also donated $3,500+ worth of medical supplies he found in storage to Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, New York. View his Instagram post about it here:
When you think of albums that are specifically “of their time,” so to speak, it usually evokes folk protest anthems of the 60’s, such as early Dylan songs or maybe the way New York punks at CBGB tapped into a growing angst in America. More recently, I think of Springsteen’s The Rising album, which was not written about 9/11 and yet seemed to speak to much of the pain and sadness in America in the immediate aftermath. In moments of our history that are so big and uncertain (as overused as that word now feels), music is our anchor, providing stability and a sense of relief. Though released on January 17th of this year, AJJ’sGood Luck Everybody feels like an album that was meant precisely for our current reality of social distancing and shelter in place. It feels like an album written at home in search of a comfort that we have all been robbed of as our world has been turned upside-down, and as a reprieve from the constant sense of dread we have been left with.
On this, their seventh studio album, Arizona’s own AJJ – a folk punk band – has captured the anxiety and anger and angst and fear of life in the midst of a pandemic. Written and produced by AJJ’s core duo of vocalist/guitarist/founder Sean Bonnette and bassist Ben Gallaty, alongside lead guitarist Preston Bryant, cellist Mark Glick, and returning long-time engineer Jalipaz Nelson (who has worked on the majority of the band’s releases), it’s an album that yearns for a return to normality and seeks shelter from the storm, while also wanting to run out into the open and yell curse words at the sky just to let out every bit of pent-up anger and frustration. Even as the album works through so many conflicting emotions, it feels like it’s all coming from one place: the anger we feel at forced uncertainty. Even the title Good Luck Everybody, feels like a final parting line to a group of people marching into potential doom. The album still wants to feel hopeful, even as everything surrounding us screams that all hope is lost.
Following the opening track, and the album’s first single, “A Poem,” which seems almost apologetic of the meaningless of art in our current reality, the album gets down to business on the second track. “I can feel my brain a-changin’, acclimating to the madness / I can feel my outrage shift into a dull, despondent sadness / I can feel a crust growing over my eyes like a falcon hood / I’ve got the normalization blues / This isn’t normal, this isn’t good,” starts out the second track, “Normalization Blues,” which is a slice of vintage 60’s protest Dylan, when he still wanted to be the next Woody Guthrie. Think of it like a modern-age “Talkin’ World War III Blues” for a generation weaned on social media and streaming services, except now the World War we’re all living through is being fought in the midst of smartphone-addiction-fueled indifference on our parts and gaslighting by our leaders. Even the closing line, the album-titular “good luck everybody”, feels like it’s being said with a resigned sigh, rather than with an ounce of hopeful conviction.
It might seem hyperbolic to say that this album in some way predicted the storm that lie just ahead for our country upon its release, but “Body Terror Song” comes replete with the refrain “I’m so sorry that you have a body.” Since the album was released, and especially in the whirlwind “shelter in place” of the last couple of months, it almost seems to detail the creeping fears many of us, willingly or otherwise, have developed of our own bodies, wondering if every cough or short breath means we have “it.” Our fears have given way to a constant feeling of dread at the one thing we can’t avoid: ourselves. “One that will hurt you, and be the subject of so much of your fear / It will betray you, be used against you, then it’ll fail on you my dear”, Bonnette sings, but as he himself noted about the song in a Reddit AMA, “Music is made to project your own experiences onto,” so maybe I’m just projecting my own insecurities here. However, I do think that the line “But before that, you’ll be a doormat, for every vicious narcissist in the world / Oh how they’ll screw you, all up and over, then feed you silence for dessert,”is still pretty spot-on for the current climate.
Whatever perceived political intentions that might be read into some of the tracks aside, the plaintive piano ballad “No Justice, No Peace, No Hope” addresses the catastrophic political elephant in the room directly, admitting to the feelings of hopelessness in it all, as we are daily bombarded by seemingly nothing but bad news. “I used to comfort myself with the myth of good intention / I can’t believe that I believed that goodness was inherent” is a relatable sentiment. Still though, Bonnette seemingly can’t give up hope, as he winds down the song with “Again we’ve slipped inside a pit of absolute despair / That’s where we live / Until we don’t”, choosing to read this, of course, as a sliver of hope and not an acceptance of defeat.
“Mega Guillotine 2020” is a love song for a glorious end to all the chaos, with a campfire sing-along cadence. The lyrics are straightforward and sung like someone watching an asteroid hurtling towards earth that decides instead of panic, it is a better idea to just chill out and accept the inevitable fate. If hopeless is hurtling towards us, what’s the point in dodging when there is nowhere to dodge? However, it is exactly when things are the darkest, and our faith in salvation is being tested that we find a reason to keep going, which is to say that sometimes we need to take pessimism for a test drive in order to find our optimism. We may welcome the guillotine, but we’re ready to pull our heads away at the last possible moment.
While much of the album expresses frustration with the current state of our world, “Psychic Warfare” takes a direct shot at the chaos caused by the “commander-in-chief” and his daily assaults on reality. Its anger is palpable and mirrors the overwhelming sense of anguish so many have felt every day. “For all the pussies you grab and the children you lock up in prison / For all the rights you roll back and your constant stream of racism / For all the poison you drip in my ear, for all your ugly American fear,” are lyrics you might want to scream into a pillow when it all gets to be too much. It is a song that’s right there with us, with a boiling rage of “f— all this b.s.!”
The album closing track “A Big Day for Grimley” acknowledges that we have far to go before life resumes a true sense of normalcy. “Now I don’t suffer any more bullshit gladly / Even though everything’s bullshit now, here in 2019 / And you can bet it’s gonna be a bunch of bullshit too out in sweet 2020 / Or whenever this album’s released,”may seem designed to leave the listener on down note, but AJJ is not a band that thrives on hopelessness, and instead leaves us with a hope for a better tomorrow, wishing for “Solitude for the stoic / Mirth for the merry / A quiet room for the overwhelmed / Arcades for the ADHD / Health for the sickly,” and leaving us with the album title once more, this time sung with the conviction missing in its previous appearance: Good luck, everybody.
As Bonnette said of the album upon its release: “I really hate explaining myself, but since I think it’s important I’ll make the theme of this album explicit: Basic human connection is the path to our collective return to sanity.”
AJJ
Though we are sheltered in place, human connection is still possible. Music connects us and reminds us that we are still alive, even when we each may be hitting the point where it feels like we’re bouncing off the walls. There is no more unifying of an experience than singing along with a song we love so deeply and so personally at a concert, which unites us with every other person at the show who joins in. In those moments, we are one with each other. Now, we will unfortunately be robbed of live music for a while, but that doesn’t mean we are robbed from connecting through music. This is an album of songs that could double as mantras in a pandemic: we are still alive and we will survive this, no matter how grim it might feel. Put on Good Luck Everybody, and sing along and know that out there somewhere, a stranger is unwittingly joining you in the moment. What more could we ask for from an album?
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Maynard James Keenan-fronted Band Releases First New Music since 2015
Jerome, AZ — Puscifer, the Arizona-born, “exceptionally groovy” (Entertainment Weekly) band that Revolver dubbed “Maynard James Keenan’s… indescribable musical/performance-art collective,” release the eerily topical “Apocalyptical” single and video:
A message from Keenan arrives alongside the track: “Manipulated information disseminated by kings, queens, dictators, so called leaders, supposed professionals or outliers and conspiracy theorists living underground, or in basements, is not new or unique to this generation. Misdirection is Power Struggles’ conjoined twin but the speed at which it now travels in this digital age is dangerous and destructive on many levels. This rapid distribution of poison and its immediate impact will be the hallmark of our generation. Even In light of all this, and all the noise the digital landscape generates, all I keep asking myself is ‘what is it with the whole hoarding toilet paper thing?’”
The ”Apocalyptical” release follows social media breadcrumbs hinting at imminent moves amongst the Puscifer camp. As had been speculated, and can now be confirmed, the band’s fourth full-length studio album will arrive this Fall via Alchemy Recordings, a partnership with BMG. Alchemy Recordings is a new record label created in partnership between Dino Paredes, former American Recordings Vice President of A&R, and Danny Wimmer, the founder of Danny Wimmer Presents, the premier production company for rock music festivals in the United States.
Vocalist Carina Round sheds light on the darkly prophetic timing of the song: “’Apocalyptical’ was one of the very first musical ideas for the new record that we put our voices on out in Arizona in late 2019. It was simultaneously very fresh and also felt like we had never been apart.”
“For the initial writing process of ‘Apocalyptical,” we relied heavily on a Fairlight IIx (an early musical computer using 8 bit samples), and a Synclavier II (another early digital workstation that relied on FM synthesis),” explains guitar player and co-producer Mat Mitchell of the behind-the-scenes creation of the song. “These were heavyweights in early digital music productions and defined a generation of music. We decided to set modern computers aside by working within the limitations of these early computer technologies. This created a unique space for us to explore and the results can be heard throughout this track.”
Puscifer has released three full-length studio albums: “V” is for Vagina (2007), Conditions of My Parole (2011) and Money Shot (2015). Maynard James Keenan initially used the moniker in a 1995 episode of “Mr. Show,” bringing the band to life in 2007. Keenan’s companions in the electro-rock outfit have been Mat Mitchell (guitar/production) and Carina Round (vocals/songwriting). The band brings a unique mix of recorded output and on-stage theatrics, pairing each release with a conceptual live show, from a “Hee Haw”-infused performance featuring recurring Puscifer characters Billy Dee and Hildy to 2017’s luchadores-themed outing.
Kadima, the brainchild of Seattle-based guitarist Aidan Israel, has unveiled their debut prog metal opus, All Birds Deserve to Fly. Recorded with a host of accomplished guest musicians, Israel set out to create an amalgam of a Devin Townsend-influenced album with a Coheed and Cambria writing style and The Contortionist’s ambiance while creating a distinctly Kadima sound.
The seven-track album opens with “Here and Where,” which begins with a soft, spoken word intro before bursting into soaring guitars. From there, All Birds Deserve to Fly continues through peaks and valleys of quiet and ethereal numbers to technical hard rockers where vocalist Kaylee Jorene shines in performances reminiscent of Anneke van Giersbergen. With All Birds Deserve to Fly, Israel aims to tell complex stories through a strong narrative while also connecting with his Jewish roots and Jewish Mysticism.
“All Birds Deserve to Fly is a concept album detailing mental health struggles and my spiritual connection to Judaism,” says Israel. “When one writes music, they’re meant to rip themselves open and expose themselves to the world. The concept of Kadima is meant to guide our light to a new level of spiritual understanding and wisdom. I am beyond honored to share this with you all as it truly means the world to me.”
All Birds Deserve to Fly follows the Jewish concept of Tohu and Tikkun, which is the idea of chaos and rectification. The album is told through the lens of a person with schizophrenia: It centers around the challenge of a myriad of thoughts and ideas racing through their brain while seeking to become whole, rectify problems in their life, and come to a better spiritual understanding.
All Birds Deserve to Fly Track Listing:
Here and Where
Bound and Tethered
Guiding Paths
Lights and Vessels
Scratching and Clawing
All Bird Deserve to Fly
Love and Desolation
About Kadima
The roots of Kadima date back to when Israel began playing guitar as a pre-teen, influenced by concept albums such as Rush‘s 2112, Periphery‘s Juggernaut Alpha and Omega, and most importantly, Dream Theater’s Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes of a Memory. Kadima, which means “forward” in Hebrew, is based on the idea that music seeks to transcend and grow in a progressive fashion.
“What attracted me to the idea of a concept album and progressive metal, in general, was the ability to convey ideas and tell complex narratives through a means that seemed supernatural and super-advanced,” Israel says. “Music was everything to me from the time I picked up the guitar. It was love at first sight. The guitar was a medium for conveying a sense of power and pride.”
As a Music major at the University of Oregon,Israelbegan pursuing his dream, but the dream was put on hold when he began displaying abnormal behavior. After a psychiatric evaluation, the guitarist was diagnosed with Schizoaffective Disorder and dropped out of the program. But recovery presented an unforeseen hurdle: “I then underwent psychotherapy through outpatient treatment and medication, but the medication was so hard on my body that I entirely forgot how to play guitar due to muscle memory loss,” Israel says.
After a year of treatment, Israel successfully petitioned to rejoin his academic program – and though he struggled with relearning a skill he had already put 10 years into mastering – successfully completed the program. During his time in school, Israel began outlining a concept album based on his mental health experiences, with plans to record it under the name Kadima.
After graduation and the mental health endeavor that Israel deems a “quarter-life crisis,” the gears were finally set in motion to make Kadima’s debut a reality. Along with his college buddy Sam Mendoza, Israel spent the summer of 2019 writing and recording the skeletons of what would become All Birds Deserve to Fly.
Originally planned to be a five-song EP, two of the tracks were split into separate entities, making All Birds Deserve to Fly into a full album. The album is dedicated to the memory of Peyton Arens, a young guitar prodigy who was influential in Israel’s musical pursuits and passed away at the young age of 13 from Rhabdomyosarcoma cancer.
While All Birds Deserve to Fly was recorded with a lineup of studio musicians, Israel plans to assemble a live lineup for future Kadima performances.
All Birds Deserve to Fly Lineup:
Composition (music and lyrics): Aidan Israel
Guitar: Aidan Israel and Sam Mendoza
Vocals: Kaylee Jorene
Spoken Word: Aidan Israel
Drums: Nick Mea
Keyboards: Eric Guenther (The Contortionist)
Bass (“Bound and Tethered,” “Lights and Vessels”): Isaac Luger
Bass (“Here and Where,” “Scratching and Clawing,” “Love and Desolation”): Nikitus Perez
Guest Guitar Solo (“Bound and Tethered”): Chance Fuller
Guest Guitar Solo (“Lights and Vessels”): Amit Fortus
Acoustic Guitar (“All Birds Deserve to Fly”): Zach Kornhauser
